Page 20 of Gilded Caresses

Unforgettable.

Lev is on my left, Gregor on my right.

My hands begin to tremble as their eyes brush over my heated cheeks and the plump pillow of my bottom lip like they want to test the softness.

The Gilded Key Society membership consists of one-percenters known as either key masters or keybearers.

From the rumors I hear my cousin share when he thinks I am not listening, there are secrets about the Gilded Key not everyone is privy to. Key bearers are elite members of society outside these walls, but here their knowledge of the intimate workings of the Gilded Key Society is limited and that is all bydesign. To a key bearer, The Gilded Key Society is simply an opulent sex club in their favorite cities. A place they can let their fantasies come to life.

Cool.

But to know all the secrets of the Society, one must be a key master——the highest rank within the Society. Those men and women make up the clandestine society within the sex club and hold the real power in Seattle, the establishment in New Orleans. And it’s not far of a stretch to think it is the same way here in Chicago’s new branch. My cousin, Harlon has said empires rise from the depths of the Gilded Key Society and though they haven’t said as much, I can pretty much bet my cousin and his criminal hold a key master spot. Thrones are built by them.

And lost. Key masters are the ones who decide fates, unlock doors and control realms. If that doesn’t describe the Constantine family, my family, I don't know what would.

Those are the members of the Gilded Key Society who hold all the power.

On that note, I have no doubt the Southern Alliance has a place at the key master table too. How could they not?

And where does a key bearer like me stand? Well, I should also say, it’s not only the size of your bank accounts that give you status within these walls. Once you are slipped an invitation key, you’re welcomed into a whole other world apart from the one that exists beyond those doors. In here your fantasies, your kinks, your ability to deliver another’s deepest desires…that’s your currency and value.

Which has me thinking that is the reason these three must be entertaining the idea of seducing me. I’m just a lone woman in a crowd of key bearers made for giving pleasure. It’s easy to pick me out because I’m the only one sitting alone. Simple math. There’s no way they remember me.

It’s been too long and our interaction was minimal at best in their eyes.

For me, the day they were in my cousin’s office trying to work out a peace treaty and expand neutral territory for the benefit of all is the day I discovered I like my men dark and broody.

I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I looked up everything there is to know about the Southern Alliance. In the media they are evil. Responsible for multiple killings and turf wars. They are feared on the streets, considered fair, and don’t go looking for fights. But they will put a bullet in anyone who messes with what they consider theirs. Under them, their territory prospers in ways it did not under Elyah’s father.

Bad blood between our families kept my cousin from forming a deal with them two years ago. A mistake I think he still regrets. The bloodshed between the two alliances is ugly and has cost lives.

They command respect and the acknowledgment they believe is deserved. It’s in the way they keep their shoulders pinned back and their chins angled high. They want others to know they have the power in any room they enter. They are the alphas and everyone else will submit. Two of them together draw the eye of nearby members, both male and female. I can’t imagine the attention all three of them together would garner.

And right now, I’m pretty sure I have a beacon over my head that is blinking the status of my V card in neon colors making me prey in their predatory eyes.

Startling green and dangerously dark. The contrasts are astounding and arousing.

I hold those gazes, unblinking. But inside I’m wrecked. Bands tighter than the world’s strongest steel wrap around the walls of my heart. I scan the room looking for the third of their crew. Dotted among the lounges are mainly trios and quads of men looking to share a woman for a night. Waitresses weave throughout the opulently-dressed crowd. But he’s nowhere to be seen. When I feel brave enough, I let my gaze roam to theirs again.

Speak, Sapph.

I’m locked in place and suddenly I know what Red Riding Hood felt like with the big bad wolf. Only I have two hunting me and their fangs are sharp and deadly.

Through the small gap between them, I see Belle slip into her lover’s arms for a quick cuddle before moving to the stage. I try to ignore the stab of longing but it’s nearly impossible.

“You live your best life, Belle.” I send up a quiet prayer that one day I will know what it’s like to have someone who wants me so deeply. It won’t take her long to find the courage to share her feelings with her men. When that day comes all of them will have happiness most of us can only dream about.

The audience quiets to barely a hushed hum of voices, but absolutely none of this is as important to me as having two-thirds of the Southern Alliance surrounding me.

A callused hand moves over the top of mine where it’s resting on the table. I note a few details I couldn’t notice from across the room.

I lift my chin to look into Lev’s dark eyes. A shadow flickers over his face. Remnants of what I saw a few moments ago when he was speaking with his friend. Pain rakes across his handsome features as if a bad memory drifted across his mind. And then it’s gone.

I thought I knew darkness. But looking into his eyes I see I am not the only one who has a past they rather not speak of.

But he locks his emotions down and the sensual man with the heated cravings returns in full glory.

To say I am not intimidated would be a bald-faced lie. I’m drowning in self-doubt and a lack of experience in the seducing arena. I perceive the heat rolling off their bodies and then it collides with mine. It’s demanding and seductive. Alluring in a way a fire is to a bug.

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